Restorative yoga: a way to reduce stress & experience deep rest, even if relaxing doesn’t come easily

I sometimes call restorative yoga “laying around on the floor yoga.”

Because it really is.

If you’re new to yoga, you may hear the word yoga and immediately picture downward dog, triangle pose, standing poses, stretching, balancing, or doing something physically challenging.

Restorative yoga looks veeeery different.

You’re mostly lying on the floor, deeply supported by props like bolsters, blankets, blocks, and sometimes straps. Your body is positioned in a way that allows you to use as little effort as possible.

Instead of asking your body to do more, we’re creating the conditions for it to gradually do less.

What is restorative yoga?

Restorative yoga is a slow, quiet style of yoga where still poses are held for longer periods of time with a lot of physical support.

The props do much of the work for you.

Rather than stretching as deeply as possible or building strength, the intention is to make the body comfortable enough that it can begin to release the chronic tension it is holding.

A restorative practice might include only a handful of poses over the course of an hour.

You settle into a position.

You get supported.

And then you stay.

That sounds simple, but for many of us it’s actually a pretty profound practice.

Our bodies hold so much tension.

We brace.

We tighten.

We rush.

We’re anticipating what needs to happen next, fixing problems, working through our never-ending to-do lists, taking care of other people, and telling ourselves there isn’t enough time.

Restorative yoga gives us a place to gently begin letting some of that go.

But what if I can’t relax?

I see this all the time in my classes and retreats.

People assume that because they have a hard time relaxing, restorative yoga won’t work for them.

But you don’t need to know how to relax in order to practice restorative yoga.

Sometimes the difficulty relaxing is exactly what becomes visible once you get still.

Some people come into class so exhausted that the moment they’re supported and quiet, they fall asleep.

Other people lie down and discover that their mind is racing.

They want to move.

They’re thinking about what they need to do later.

They’re wondering whether they’re doing the pose correctly.

They’re worried about making noise.

They don’t want to sneeze, adjust their blanket, cough, move their leg, or disturb the person next to them.

That is completely normal.

You don’t need to be embarrassed.

You don’t need to make yourself tiny or perfectly still.

An important part of restorative yoga is practicing acceptance of whatever is actually happening.

You move if you need to move.

You adjust something if you’re uncomfortable.

You sneeze if you need to sneeze.

And as the teacher, I’m there to help support you.

While the goal isn’t to fall asleep

Falling asleep during restorative yoga is extremely common, especially when you’re exhausted.

It’s okay.

And it’s okay if you wake yourself up snoring.

You’re giving yourself the rest your body needs.

But sleep isn’t the goal.

Ideally, we’re practicing staying just this side of sleep, in that place where you are still conscious but very deeply relaxed.

Your body becomes heavy.

Your thoughts may slow down.

Your awareness gets softer.

You may notice that you’re no longer tracking every sound in the room or thinking quite so intensely about what comes next.

This kind of deep relaxation gives the nervous system an opportunity to shift out of constant activation.

We sometimes describe this as moving away from sympathetic nervous system activity, the fight-or-flight side of the stress response, and increasing parasympathetic activity, which is associated with rest, digestion, recovery, and restoration.

I like the physiology because it helps explain what’s happening.

But the experience is often much simpler.

Some part of your body begins to understand:

Okay. I don’t need to be holding on so tightly right now.

And sometimes the mind follows.

Relaxation is something we practice

This is one of the things I find most interesting about restorative yoga.

We tend to think relaxation is something we either can or can’t do.

But relaxation is a practice.

If your nervous system is accustomed to being active, vigilant, busy, or braced, it may not immediately respond when you tell yourself to relax.

You may lie down and feel anything but relaxed.

That doesn’t mean the practice isn’t working.

Maybe your shoulders soften a little.

Maybe your breath changes.

Maybe you notice how tightly you’ve been clenching your jaw.

Maybe you become aware of how quickly your mind moves into fixing and planning.

Maybe for five minutes you feel calmer than you did when you walked through the door.

All of this matters.

Over time, with repeated practice, your nervous system starts to become more familiar with the invitation to let go & chill out.

It learns that a more relaxed state exists.

It learns how to move toward it.

And it often becomes easier to access.

That’s one of the reasons I love teaching restorative yoga as a series rather than only as an occasional class.

Consistency matters.

What restorative yoga can teach you outside of yoga class

The value of restorative yoga isn’t limited to the hour you spend lying over a bolster.

It creates a counterweight to the rest of your life.

When you spend time experiencing what it feels like to be genuinely supported and less activated, you begin to recognize the difference.

You may start noticing:

Oh, I’m bracing right now.

I’m rushing.

I’m telling myself there isn’t enough time.

I’m reacting before I’ve even decided what I want to do.

That awareness can create a little more space.

Instead of constantly living inside the reaction, you start to notice the reaction.

And then other questions can emerge:

• Why am I creating so much stress in my life?
• How am I contributing to it?
• What part of this is actually within my control to change?
• What would happen if I didn’t immediately respond?
• What would it feel like to do less here?

This is where restorative yoga can become a doorway into a different relationship with your body, your mind, your life, and even the people around you.

Try restorative yoga in Anchorage

If you’re in Anchorage and you’re curious what restorative yoga actually feels like in your body, I’ll be teaching an eight-week restorative yoga series beginning September 2.

We’ll spend time practicing exactly what I’ve described here: getting deeply supported, slowing things down, noticing what arises, and gradually learning what it feels like to let go.

[Learn more & register for the restorative yoga series →]